Kanye on Kimmel: “I’m Totally Weird and I’m Totally Honest”

About two weeks ago, Kanye West went on a Twitter rampage targeting Jimmy Kimmel, causing something of an internet maelstrom (and spawning at least one Ben Affleck-referencing hashtag meme). Kanye was upset with a skit that aired on Kimmel’s late night show in which two young children acted out part of his recent BBC interview with Zane Lowe. Kimmel seemed a bit shaken up by the tweets when he discussed them on his show, and stressed that the “feud” was not a publicity stunt or “faked” in any way . . . and, now that we’ve seen Kanye’s appearance on Kimmel last night, we believe him.

Kanye showed up last night for a nearly 25-minute interview (scheduled musical guests Arctic Monkeys were pushed off the telecast) for a basically cordial, often tense, never boring chat with Kimmel. Things got off to something of a shaky start when Kimmel unsuccessfully attempted some casual humor (Kimmel’s first two questions—“Who are you wearing?” and “Is that, uh, a new grill you have there?”—were not exactly met with genial responses by the musician.) But the cold between them quickly thawed. Kimmel addressed the controversy right off the bat with a rambling apology in which he admitted he “only saw a couple of little parts of the [BBC] interview” before the sketch on his show aired, and said that he “didn’t think [it] would be something [that] bothered” Kanye. “The main reason I did that is because I like to see kids curse,” Kimmel said, claiming the intention was not to “position [Kanye] as a child.”

Kanye—who told Kimmel “I don’t do publicity stunts, period”—said he was hurt by Kimmel’s skit since they “know” each other, having met at a wedding. (Later in the segment, Kimmel actually showed a picture of Kanye posing with Kimmel’s father at said wedding.) He suggested that his Twitter rant was the result of built-up frustration about the way in which “people feel it’s okay to treat celebrities like zoo animals” and diminish their lives and dreams. “We kind of just took it back to high school for a little bit,” Kanye said.

From there, the conversation ambled and took several detours. Some notable moments:

— Kimmel told Kanye that “a lot of people think you’re a jerk,” to which Kanye icily stared him down. (This was part of a longer point Kimmel was trying to make about Kanye being misunderstood.)

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— Kanye said, plainly, “I’m a creative genius, and there’s no other way to word it. I know you’re not supposed to say that about yourself.” (When Kimmel said he thinks it can “upset people” to hear a celebrity make such claims about himself, Kanye responded: “I’m totally weird and I’m totally honest and I’m totally inappropriate sometimes, and . . . for me to say I wasn’t a genius, I would just be lying to you and to myself.”)

— Basically out of nowhere: “I spent two of my checks in telemarketing when I was 18 years old on my first pair of Gucci slippers.” — Kanye

— Speaking of Kim, Kanye went on a brief tangent to advocate for his girlfriend getting a star on the Walk of Fame. (The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has previously said they “don’t do reality stars.”) “There’s no way that Kim Kardashian shouldn’t have a star on the Walk of Fame,” he argued (endearingly!).

— Kimmel: “Do you really think I look like Sponge Bob?” Kanye: “I mean, it’s the first thing that came to my mind.”

— Kimmel gifted Kanye some mini leather jogging pants for baby North, which did garner something of a grin from Kanye.

— Kanye referred to himself by name as “Kan-YAY” (which, it should be noted, is how the Kardashian sisters have been pronouncing it this season on Keeping Up With The Kardashians).

— The final eight minutes or so consisted of an essentially uninterrupted Kanye monologue, in which he riffed on the fashion world, racism, classicism, Paula Deen, Michael Jackson, “creatives,” Vertu phones and paparazzi. (It’s worth watching.)

— On paparazzi, he warned, “It’s not safe for you in this zoo. Never think that I’m not from Chicago for one second,” though he did thank them for “[showing] people how fresh my outfit is [and helping] me influence people.”

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